Finding your tog
Wool duvets are sold by weight in grams per square metre, and sometimes by tog, and the two only line up once you know how the duvet is built. Five questions about your room through the year and how you wash give a band to look for, and say plainly when a single duvet cannot be the answer.
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How the band is found
A wool duvet's warmth follows its weight per square metre far more than any other number on the label, so the questions track your room's temperature through the year, then how you would wash it, then the bed it has to cover.
Some rooms swing too far between seasons for any one wool duvet, and when your answers show that, the result says so rather than splitting the difference.
Everything you answer stays inside this browser, where it lets the site remember your band through the year; clearing it is a single click.
What each question asks of the room
1. How cold does the bedroom get on a winter night?
- Cold, below about 60°F (16°C). A cold winter bedroom calls for a heavier wool duvet, and wool gives warmth with less weight than most fills.
- Cool, somewhere between 60 and 67°F (16 to 19°C). A cool winter bedroom sits in the middle band, where most wool duvets are made.
- Mild, above about 67°F (19°C). A mild winter bedroom needs only a light wool duvet, even in the coldest months.
2. And on a summer night?
- Hot, above about 75°F (24°C). A hot summer bedroom is where one heavy duvet becomes impossible to keep on the bed.
- Warm, about 68 to 75°F (20 to 24°C). A warm summer bedroom narrows the band a single duvet can serve.
- Still cool. A cool summer means the same duvet can stay on the bed all year.
3. Would you rather keep one duvet on the bed all year?
- Yes, one duvet. Wanting one duvet means the band has to span your whole year.
- I would use two, or layer them. Being open to two duvets, or to layering a light one over a heavier one, lets each season get its own weight.
4. Does the duvet have to go in a washing machine?
- No, I will air it and spot clean. Airing and spot cleaning is how most wool duvets are meant to be kept, and it opens up the widest choice.
- Yes, it must be machine washable. Needing machine washing narrows the choice to treated wool, which changes how it feels and what it costs.
5. Does wool against the skin bother you?
- No. Wool against the skin does not bother you, so the shell fabric can be chosen for other reasons.
- It can. Wool in a duvet sits inside a woven cotton shell, which is why many people who find wool jumpers itchy sleep under wool without noticing it.
The bands, and the answer that is not a band
A light wool duvet, low in weight and tog, for a mild room
Readers whose bedroom stays mild through winter, for whom a light wool duvet is enough all year.
A mid-weight wool duvet for a cool room all year
Readers with a cool room whose summers stay moderate, where one mid-weight wool duvet can serve every season.
A heavier wool duvet for a cold room
Readers with a cold bedroom and cool summers, who can keep a warm wool duvet on the bed most of the year.
If it must be machine washed: what a washable wool duvet gives up
Readers who need a machine-washable duvet, which means treated wool and a trade in feel and price.
One duvet is the wrong shape of answer for your room
Readers whose room swings from cold winters to hot summers and who want a single duvet. No one weight spans that year, and this says so.